Hybrid particle swarm optimization for pure integer linear solid transportation problem

This paper appends three proposed heuristic algorithms, viz. Initialization Algorithm, Fraction Repair Algorithm and Negative Repair Algorithm, to Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and extends its application to Pure Integer Linear Solid Transportation Problem (STP). The chief contribution of the paper is that the proposed Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization (HPSO) algorithm discretizes the continuous search space of PSO so that it can operate in the discrete solution space of STP with any of the valid parameter settings. The Initialization Algorithm is developed to generate the sufficient number of random solutions for initiating HPSO with a diverse population of given size. Whereas Fraction Repair and Negative Repair Algorithms are developed to ensure that each successive population obtained with HPSO remains in the solution space of STP. The validity of HPSO is examined and illustrated by solving a numerical problem with certain parameter settings. Further, the HPSO demonstrates its ability to obtain an optimal or near optimal solution along with the alternate optimal solution, if it exists. It searches for the solutions even without adhering to the rigid conditions of traditional methods that every solution of STP must have a fixed number of non-zero decision variables. Moreover, the performance of HPSO is tested with three different parameter settings and compared amongst each other to analyze their significance in solving the problem. The performance of HPSO and the variants of parameters are statistically validated through an extensive experimental design.